Law Firms

More class action law firms have pounced on Downer EDI’s “accounting irregularities” that led to the company overstating profits by up to $40 million.

Automotive electronics company Directed Electronics is set to claw back $3.27 million in commission payments made to a former manager through a secret side agreement with South Korean giant Hanhwa, with a ruling on damages still to come in the five-year case.

A Dutch renewable energy company has brought proceedings in the Federal Court to enforce a $472 million arbitration award against Spain over changes to its energy policies, after the country lost a similar case in the High Court. 

National law firm Meridian Lawyers has nabbed two senior practitioners from McCabes for its insurance group, less than a month after luring 14 lawyers and staff from its competitor.

A judge aggrieved by the “plague” of competing class actions in the courts has temporarily stayed a second data breach class action against Medibank, and directed the health insurer to ask the privacy commissioner to drop the investigation of a third case.

A recent decision by the Federal Court that questioned whether the introduction of a serious harm test in defamation law could infringe the Judiciary Act has shone a light on the need for a federal defamation framework, legal experts say. 

An appeals court has shot down funder Augusta’s challenge to a decision that cut its commission in the Opal Tower class action, putting funders on notice that they will have to marshal compelling evidence to win approval for their returns from an increasingly watchful court.

IG Markets could be hit with a second class action by investors seeking to claw back hundreds of millions of dollars allegedly lost in trading in over-the-counter derivative products known as contracts for difference.

A judge overseeing an investor class action over the collapse of advisory firm Linchpin Capital has questioned whether he has to “effectively second guess” a law firm’s advice given to group members about a partial settlement. 

Crown Resorts has reached agreement on a proposed penalty in AUSTRAC’s case alleging “widespread and serious non-compliance” with anti-money laundering and counter terrorism financing laws, but the presiding judge says more information is needed for the court to fix a fine.